Thank you so much to everyone who participated in the challenge! We hope you'll all play along for our next challenge in November. The DT is taking a little quick breather :) Enjoy the little time back and start thinking of holiday cards *hint hint*

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Hello there. Our lovely Katie Brooks from KB Stamps is back. She was one of our wonderful contributors to our Birthday Bash. Today she is going to show you how to tackle a sketch and I hop it gives those who don't like to play along with sketch challenges a few starting points.

Happy Monday!!! I am so exciting to be a Guest on the Little Tangles blog I can barely contain my excitement! Ren-Yi asked me to come and share how I go about tackling a sketch and I thought about it for a long time…exactly 1/2 a second...before I said “heck yes!” So here I am to do just that with you today. I sure hope you find it helpful so that Ren-Yi will have me back one day in the future.First, check out this sketch by Ms. June Houck….fabulous right?! Yep, I thought so too. There are lots of ways to tackle a sketch and I will say that I don’t always use the same method. This was my thought process when I saw the sketch.

Step 1: I size up the sketch and study it a bit. Does it have a lot of layers? Specific elements (like those little circles)? Is there a theme or anything that grabs my attention? The key thing I want to know when I first look at the sketch is that if there is one element that jumps out at me and says START HERE!

When I looked at this sketch, I first noticed it is pretty fabulously CAS. The next thing I noticed was the little circles that could be bubbles, enamel dots, sequins….so many things. Then I noticed the two different patterned elements going down the sides and my first thought- WASHI TAPE! And we are off and running. (Other options for this would include DP, stamping your own image, ribbon, etc.)

Step 2: Next I get out my N&T stamps and check them out. I compare the themes with the various washi tapes I own and make a match.

In this case, I have two brand new N&T sets that are begging to be inked up, Simple Christmas and Just for You, so I grabbed those. I have options for washi for either theme but since the holiday season is coming up I decided to lean towards Christmas.

Step 3: Having decided my theme, I’ve selected my tapes and stamps and now I want to look at my cardstock and choose a base that might accompany this.

I love to see Kraft on holiday cards, so that’s an easy decision.

Step 4: At this point, most of my elements are chosen. If I have any hesitation about my sentiment variations or colors, I’ll practice on scrap paper to find the right match before committing to my card stock. When I have that down I go for it on the actual paper.

I’ve added the sentiment from “our home to yours” in black and decided to use the little evergreen boughs and berries instead of circles.

Step 5: Add the remaining elements.

All I really have at this point to add is my washi. BTW- (the beautiful thing about washi is the ability to reposition when you screw up since I do all the time. Looking at the card I decide it looks a little flat, so I decided to add some twine for a little dimension and round one of the corners, just for fun.

There you have it folks, all done. What do you think of the final look?

Other ways to tackle a sketch that I sometimes use:

Start with your image (if using a stamp) and build around it

Start with the part that poses the biggest challenge for you and once you’ve figured out what you want there, build around it.

Pick the patterned paper you like, and build around it.

There are probably lots of other ways to tackle sketches as well. For me, you may be picking up on a theme that I like is to find a starting point and build around it… ;) There is no wrong way to go about a sketch…and guess what, if you don’t like it, do it over! I do that plenty. The key is to have fun.

While I am here, I thought I’d show you one other take I had on this sketch.

Thanks for letting me play with you fabulous folks at Little Tangles! It is always super fun!

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Hi everyone - we're back with another fun challenge! As you know, we have been putting together a little bit of awareness for little Grayson and his family.

A kind soul has put up a little angel fundraiser for this family. I just wanted you to be aware of it, so look for it on the side bar.

Also a dear Little Tangles and Neat & Tangled supporter Heather Ruwe is putting a little fun card together for this champ. In addition, she is doing a GIVEAWAY for anyone who will provide card to Grayson. So hop on over there and put this week's sketch challenge to good use!

So what sketch, you ask? This one was a lovely idea by our DT June Houck. So leave her extra love this week!

To give us a good kick start with this sketch, we have a special friend on the blog today. If you are a long-time follower of Little Tangles, you will remember Miriam Prantner - my old DT sister. She remains one of the blogs i love to still regularly stalk. Check it out why...

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in the challenge! We hope you'll all play along for our next challenge, which starts this Thursday!In the meantime check back every day to see what we have new in store for the Birthday Bash. See you tomorrow.

Maureen W. - you're the lucky recipient of this stunning set. Please email neatandtangledstamps(at)gmail.com with the subject line "Birthday Bash CASE Winner - Sketchy Cupcakes" and we will pop those in the mail directly to you.

Well done, girls! Email neatandtangledstamps(at)gmail.com with the subject line "Birthday Bash CASE Winner - 5GC" and we will pop you instructions how to redeem it.

Lastly I would like to offer a perk for everyone who participate in our Birthday Bash CASE challenge a small perk: Every 20$ you spend, a free pack of sequins. Please email me at neatandtangledstamps(at)gmail.com with the subject line "Birthday Bash CASE Winner - Perk" and we will pop you instructions how to redeem it.

That was a lot of fun. I hope you can come back to the many posts in August for inspiration and we look forward to returning to our regular schedule program. Don't forget there is a challenge going on :)

Hello there. SmilynStef if you remember won our Day 6 Unbirthday Birthday Challenge. So we are so happy to have her here on the blog to show us her take on making pattern paper.

I am thrilled for the opportunity to be a Guest Designer at the Little Tangles Challenge Blog. The current challenge is to *Make Your Own Patterned Paper*. I used glossy cardstock and my Spectrum Noir Alcohol Ink Refills and had some fun.
I started by stamping the curlicue border stamp from Neat and Tangled with Versamark ink and clear embossing powder on a 5 1/2 x 8 1/2" piece of glossy cardstock. I rotated the image each time I stamped for variation ... the design is very forgiving, so you don't have to be precise in lining-up your images.

I added more of my lightest color (CG1) and blending solution to my felt, and went back over my paper one more time to fill in the white spots.

The next step will really make your stamping pop. I positioned my paper between plain newsprint (I save all of the pieces I get inside packages, but a few sheets of printer paper will work as well) with the stamped side-up and ironed on high heat to remove the embossing powder. I have an iron I bought at a yard sale that I use specifically for crafting. Make sure you lift the paper while it is still warm, and it will not stick ... if it does, just iron again to release it.

I cut my designer paper in half, so I could make two cards. The first card uses my stamped & inked designer paper together with stamps from Kindness Matters.

I re-inked my felt with the same colors and inked more glossy cardstock. After it dried, I used India Ink to stamp my sentiment and the two hearts and clear embossed. One of the great things about using your Alcohol Inks for your background is that you can use the coordinating markers on your project. For a bit more contrast, I used my BT7 Spectrum Noir Marker to outline my die cut and to color in my hearts.
Since the embossing powder was ironed away, you can stamp directly on the inky background too. I stamped the same curlicue stamp on my designer paper with India Ink. Next I added some gold Spray & Sparkle Glitter Varnish for overall sparkle.

I paired this background with black cardstock for a more dramatic look. Since the curlicues reminded me of vintage phone cords, I finished with stamps from Just Hello.

A huge thanks to Neat & Tangled for the opportunity to design for you today ... now go get inky and have some fun.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

Hi everyone - we're back with another fun challenge! Before we get started, I wanted to make sure to give a shout out to the open card drive here.

If you haven't heard of this, please hop on over here to read all about it. Also our DT Amy is doing a inlinkz over on her end to give away sequins from her stash. So please consider sending your card along to Grayson when playing along in this week's challenge theme.

We want you to create your own pattern paper. Yep it's time to bust out your stamping skills and go nuts with it. Also remember we have some free digis, so check those out.